A family heritage
From grandfather to grandson, tradition and
technology combined to produce something great
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How it all started
Ever since my earliest days, my love for olive trees grew each time I visited our little olive grove with my grandfather. I have always been fascinated by its slow growth, its beauty and the gift it gives us after all the hard work.
Until 1997, we cultivated only 50 olive trees, about 300 to 400 years old. After my grandfather fell ill, there was nobody left to cultivate our olive grove, so while my peers were busy collecting football cards and riding their bikes, I had a somewhat different hobby.
Finding my life path
My only goal was to learn each and every fact about this beautiful tree and to produce extra virgin olive oil that would make my whole family happy. It was certainly not easy at the beginning – a 14-year-old, stating that he wants to work, can only get an ´oh, it's just puberty´ reaction. However, my brother Tedi and my mother soon recognized my passion for olive trees and jumped in to help me. With time, this hobby marked my entire life and grew into our family business.
I knew that enthusiasm and love alone were not sufficient. Continuous education and improvement are also needed. So, while working on our estate, I graduated from the Agricultural Secondary School in Poreč, and enrolled at the Faculty of Agriculture in Zagreb. Thanks to the knowledge I have gained over the years, I have introduced new agro-ecological technologies and measures on our estate. This has definitely paid off and resulted in a large number of international awards for the quality of our extra virgin olive oil.
Harvesting the fruits of our work
It takes quite a long time for the olive tree to bear fruit, so that today, after so many years, we can finally see the results of the work we started in 1997.
Currently, we have altogether 12,000 olive trees on our estate, mostly autochthonous olive sorts, and there are also several contracted cultivators for an additional 10,000 trees.
Our entire production is under certified ecological supervision. We are extremely proud to say that our extra virgin olive oil bears the Organic Label, as well as the Protected Designation of Origin, which both guarantee and ensure that this is certified 100% organic extra virgin olive oil from Istria.
Hard work to bring quality to excellence
Today, in the world of globalization and huge corporations, one rarely knows who the one is that guarantees a product's quality. When it comes to our extra virgin olive oil, the one is actually - us, the entire Chiavalon family , that strives and guarantees with its name that the extra virgin olive oil which reaches you will be of the utmost quality and the best one you have ever tasted. It is when tradition embrace the contemporary and the ancient allows to be awakened by some new energy, that the inspiration knows no boundaries.
Sandi Chiavalon
Tedi Chiavalon
